That's How it Works
by TT-Avatar-FruitBasket-Ouran
Summary: Zuko takes a dive off the cliff for Toph, causing Katara to forgive him. When she heals him, she also admits that she likes him, not Aang. Then, when Toph visits, she tells him the same thing. Which one will he choose? Okay, that was a bad summary. :/
1. Chapter 1

**K, so, my friend told me she wanted me to write this for her. Just a little something for you (you know who you are! c:) Anyways, tell me what you think.**

**My friend loves the Toko stories, and I prefer Zutara, so we'll see who wins! :D**

**Oh yeah, sonfic for this chapter (I think that means the song that plays in the background) is What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) by Kelly Clarkson.**

**Tell me if you enjoyed it! :)**

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"Ouch!" Aang shouted, causing Katara and Sokka to turn their heads. Katara glared at Zuko, who was helping Aang up.

Zuko frowned at Katara. "Could you..?"

Katara grabbed Aang roughly from Zuko and walked him to the fountain, where Aang sat down and relzxed his finer muscles under the cool water.

"Thanks Katara." He said groggily.

She smiled. "I'm just doing what I need to." She turned her head angrily to Zuko. "_You_, however, need to be more careful with Aang."

"Ozai isn't going to be easy on Aang." Zuko said angrily. "If you go easy on him, my dad'll kill him." He bit his lip harshly. "I think he needs more practice, and more advanced stuff so that he'll get the smaller stuff right."

Katara glared. "Oh, yeah? Well if Aang gets hurt one more time during practice, you'll be the one needing healing." she snarled, her blue eyes going ice cold.

Zuko trudged off to the cliff, where he sat down and kicked rocks to the bottom, listening to the amusing "plunk". He sat down and stared across the large chasm. _When will she accept me? Ugh, I've been doing everything right! Maybe I should just_-

"Thud" sounded from beside him, and he whirled around.

"OUCH!" Toph said, shaking her wrist. "Bug bights. I think it's a mosquito, seeing how I never see them coming until after they've bitten me." She grinned playfully.

Zuko frowned. "But, if you got bit, what was that-"

She pounded the rock with her hand. "I killed it." She grinned proudly.

"Why does-"

"She's the ice queen, remember?" Toph said, plopping down beside Zuko. "She's born to spit ice at everyone who tries to melt the ice."

"In some weird, creppy way, that makes sense." Zuko mumbled. "How can I-"

Toph stopped him. "I think, if you rush in and kick you sister's butt, that could do it."

"Huh?" Zuko was about to ask, when a huge boom sounded from camp. "Oh no." He sprinted to the camp, where stood Azula, five guards, and his friends. Sokka laid on the ground, a burn on his fore arm. Katara was tied up and laying on the ground so that her hands didn't move. Aang was also tied up, but instead was being carried by the guards.

Zuko took his battle stance, and started shooting hot fire at Azula, who blocked them easily. He launched himself towards her, and she started tossing hot fire at him too. She missed him by several inches, causing him to sneer at her mistake.

"Looks like you've gotten messy." He said, grinning meanly.

She scowled. "Well you've always been messy." She threw more fire at him, missing yet again by a few centimeters. She warmed up, and started to shoot lightning. Of course, it didn't land on him, but on a nearby tree.

"Going blind, little sis?" He said coldly, attacking her with overwhelming flames.

Toph frowned at that comeback, but creeped slowly through the temple. She used her powers to pick up little shards of cement, and cut Aang and Katara's binding ropes. They sprang into action, fighting the guards while Zuko fought Azula. They had all the guards beaten and knocked off the cliff by the time Zuko had knocked Azula to the ground.

He pinned her down, and smiled. "Looks like I'm not so messy now, am I?" He said jerkily.

She too smiled. She kicked off her, and summoned all her powers. The skys were covered with dark clouds, which started thundering. Toph's blind eyes went really wide, and she sprinted out towards Zuko. "ZUKO! WATCH OUT!"

But Azula turned on heel to direct her lightning at Toph. Zuko saw as thought in slow motion, and dived at his sister, knocking them both off the cliff. Azula screamed, summoning her powers, but when they lightning from the clouds came to power her, for her to direct, she forgot to redirect it. She fell immobile, and Zuko and her crashed into the ground.

Zuko cursed his sense receptors for allowing him to feel the pain of a drop that high. He felt his muscles twitch and he rolled his head to face Azula. With a twinge of guilt, Zuko realized the fall had killed her. It had killed his one and only sister.

_Better her than me, _he thought angrily. _She tried to kill Toph-_

Was that what this was about? Had he fallen, to save her? Would it have better just to let her get struck, or had he done the right thing?

_Of course I did._

"ZUKO!"

He knew that voice.

"ZUKO! ARE YOU OKAY?"

It couldn't be true, was that voice really-

"IT'S ME, KATARA!"

He tried to roll over and see her, but the pain in his neck forced him to pass out.

Katara was riding Appa with Toph and Sokka, who were running to Zuko's limp body. Sokka gasped when he saw Azula, but Toph shook her head.

"No pulse." She said plainly, staring at a rock blindly. "She's gone. Zuko's alive though." She said a bit more brightly. She turned to face Sokka. "It looks bad."

Sokka bit his lip nervously, and looked to Katara. "Should I pick him up, or-"

"No." Katara said, looking at his body lying on the ground helplessly. "No, Toph, can you make a rock bed to carry him back up?"

Toph nodded solemnly, kicked the earth, and Zuko rose on a bed of rock up the side of the cliff, slowly making his way up to Aang who awaited his arrival. Aang used his powers to move the rock bed to the fountain, were he laid his down slowly.

"Oh Zuko," Aang said, flinching back.

Zuko's body was all pale and gray, and his hair looked darker than usual. He was breathing funny, making Aang curious. Aang knew better, but he used air to slowly flip Zuko onto his back, and saw his stomach all cut up. It must have been all the rocks down there.

Zuko held his arm near his ribs protectively in a weird angle, and his legs were crumpled beneath him. He moaned with pain, coughed, then coughed again.

He kept coughing, making Katara get anxious. She made her way back up, not moving as fast on Appa as Toph had been moving the rock bed. She ran to Zuko, who was coughing and wheezing. She turned on Aang.

"Did you _flip _him?" Katara yelled angrily.

Aang's face lost it's color. He wasn't used to her yelling at him. That was Zuko that she yelled at. "Well, yea, I-"

"Why would you do that?" Katara screamed. "That could suffocate him!"

Aang struggled to come back. "I- I'll just flip him back-"

"NO!" She dived for his arms. "You already unsettled him, that'll make it worse!"

Aang freed himself from her clutches and sprinted to the inside of the temple, trying to think away from all of this shouting. He strolled past the doors, and slammed them with his airbending.

Toph shook her head. "This is a mess." She turned to Zuko, but she couldn't see him. The quiver in Katara's voice was obviously a sign that he wasn't at his best. "Will he be alright?"

"I think so." Katara whispered to her. "I just don't want to wake him up. It could be bad for his heart, you know, all the stress." She floated water down to Zuko's rasping body, which made him hiss with pain, then he relaxed his muscles.

Sokka balled his hands into fists, looking down at the teenager whom he had seen just moments ago fighting his sister with an angry sneer and an exciting edge. He wished to himself, just for a moment, that it had been him instead. But then, looking at Zuko, Sokka realized only Zuko was strong enough to have lived through that.

Katara looked up at Sokka. Her eyes were full of fear. "What if this-"

"Heals him? Then he'll live." Sokka replied simply. He rummaged a smile from the thought of meat. "It's okay Katara. You can heal him, no sweat."

Silent tears streamed down her cheek. "But, but.." she looked up at Sokka sadly. "The last thing I said to him.. I was a total jerk! How will he forgive me, when he risked his life for us, and I was a big jerk?"

"Gee, Katara, sounds like something he'd say about you." Sokka said, his eyes staring down at Zuko.

Katara looked down at Zuko, and for once, she decided to forgive him for what happened in Ba Sing Se.

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**It's not over. I will post another chapter asap, but until then, enjoy the song for the chapter! :)**

**Review, subscribe, and of course, READ! :D**

**THANKS!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Thanks for reading my story you guys, it truly means a lot. I am writing this story my friend, but I am also writing it due to the lack of stories like this.**

**Please tell me how you feel about each pairing to help me come up with the ending pairing. Remember, if you don't say your preferred pairing then it might not happen.**

**Anyways, someone told me that they wanted Zai (ZukoxMai) in here, so I'll toss that in later. I dunno whether that's a big hit though, so tell me what you think of that too! :)**

**Sonfic for this chapter is The Man Who Can't Be Moved by the Script. **

**Thanks!**

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Katara used her hands, and felt as the water rushed down to Zuko. Zuko moaned loudly, then sighed with relief. Katara let the water sink into his skin, and looked around for injuries. She saw cuts on the skin, and lots of bruises. She looked around his ribs, and found three broken ribs. She easily fit them back together, but they were still fractured.

She went on through his body to his arms, where she saw his left humerus was tried to force it back together, but another moan told her to let it heal itself. She tried once more to put it together, and it got closer.

_Better than nothing, _she thought to herself. _I just hope he doesn't wake up._

She looked at his face and head, and started to heal what seemed to be a terrible migraine. She also found what looked like a concussion, and healed that about 60% of the way, until he groaned.

She found her way to the vertebrae, to what looked to be whip-lash. She couldn't be sure, though. All she knew was the healing classes she had taken in the north pole.

Moving along, she got to his legs. She looked along the left leg, but found nothing but bruises which were broken blood vessels and cuts. She healed the cuts to small, white scars and the bruises from black to a light, pale green. She went to the the next leg, where she found the femur broken and cracked. She used the water to collect the cracked parts of bone and stick them back together.

She moved the bone closer and closer, very careful and very sensitive to the pain it might cause. When she felt him beginning to hiss with pain, she stopped and left it how it was. She took the water away slowly, then opened her eyes. He looked better, but most of his cuts were still bleeding and bruises still purple. The side of his face had also been cut open, but it was on the left side which she had not thought to check.

"You did good." Sokka said reassuringly. "Can those cuts be healed or-"

"I was getting there." She hissed back, trying to do her best wasn't easy. It took, well, her best.

Lowering the water back to his stomach, she healed all the small and large cuts and bruises, cleaning them with the water and returning the blood to the lungs to be oxygenated. She moved to his face, where she slowly fixed the cut across his face. It left a long, white scar, to which she felt embarrassed.

_Not another scar! _She thought, disappointed.

She used her water again to fix the scar, which made it less obvious. She did it over and over again, until finally the scar was barely visible. She sighed with relief, and went onto his arms.

She healed every cut and bruise she found with a certain vigor that she hadn't had before. She finished within five minutes, leaving not so much as a single scratch open or a single bruise brown.

"Can I do anything?" Sokka offered.

Katara was about to ask him, when she saw the burn on his fore arm. Now she remembered: he had jumped out at Azula, who blasted fire at him; and he had held up his arm protectively. Smart.

"Well, you can sit down and let me heal that arm." She said quickly, moving him to the fountain. He protested that he was fine, but when he touched his arm to show her it didn't hurt, he gasped from pain.

She raised her eyebrows. "Fine, huh?" She picked up the water and floated it down to his fore arm, which made him sigh with relief. It was such a fresh burn that it healed right up within a few minutes. He felt all around his smooth, now healed arm.

"You know, my skin feels smoother! Maybe I should get Zuko to burn my face, then you could heal it, then I wouldn't have acne!" He said brightly.

She rolled her eyes. "Do you _really _want to have _Zuko _give you a face-full of fire?" Sokka's eyes went cold, and he shook his head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot.." He laughed nervously under Katara's glare.

She sighed and looked down at Zuko. "Could you get me some bandages, a cast, and maybe a sling?"

"Where d'you want me to get it from?" Sokka shouted. "The cast vendor who shows up every day at noon?"

"CASTS! GET YOUR FRESH CASTS, RIGHT HERE!" The cast vendor shouted, strolling through the temple. "EVERY DAY AT NOON!" He pushed his cart towards Katara. "Hi, young lady, need anything from the trolley?"

Katara threw a glance at Sokka, who's jaw had dropped. "Yes please." She paid for one huge box of stuff, including a pair of crutches, just in case there was another attack.

Sokka sat, dumbstruck. "There's a cast vendor?" He stared up at Katara. "That's just-"

Zuko moaned loudly, causing both Katara and Sokka to hop up to their feet and wrap his right leg in a cast. They wrapped up his left arm and put a sling over his shoulder to hold up his arm. She also wrapped his chest with bandages to protect him ribs. Quickly, she slipped what looked to be a neck brace around his neck, just in case he truly had whip-lash. Overall, he looked much better.

"That's more like it." Sokka said to Katara. "You did good."

She looked at the ground modestly, then turned to walk to Toph, who was sitting at the edge of the cliff. Toph looked blindly towards Katara, her milky green eyes sparkling with tears.

"Is he-"

"He's fine." Katara said. "I just healed him. He looked much better."

Toph smiled a little bit. "So what's the damage doc?"

"A broken arm, broken leg, couple of fractured ribs, and I think he has a concussion. Might even have whip lash, but I'm still not sure.." She said quickly. "Don't worry though, he looks much better-"

Toph cleared her throat, crossing her arms.

"_Feels _much better." Katara corrected herself with a nervous smile.

Toph giggled. "Do you think he'll be able to bend again soon?"

"I don't know." Katara said quietly, sitting beside Toph, staring at the deep pit. "I mean, such a fall, it can take so much out of a person. If he does bend ever again, it would be in months. If he's really quick to recover like Aang was, then it should take a few weeks, but otherwise.." She gazed at Toph. "I think the hardest part for Zuko will be the embarrassment, right? I mean, he's so prideful, it'll take him a while to accept the fact he'll need our help."

Toph nodded. "Lot o' big words, Katara."

"Um, Katara?" Sokka said, walking over to the girls. "Zuko woke up, then passed out, then woke up again, and just passed out." He bit his lip. "What do I-"

Katara had already sprinted past him and to where Zuko laid. It had to be something she had missed, some little detail that she had forgotten. She looked through the blood paths until she found something: a punctured lung.

_How could I have missed it? _She screamed in her mind. _I'm supposed to be a healer, and here I am, forgetting to check his lungs? This could kill him! _That's when it occurred to her: _Aang. This was his doing. _

She balled her hands into fists, cursing leaving Aang alone with an injured Zuko. But she knew she had to work fast. She splashed water onto Zuko, forcing the water to the lungs, where she focused. When he had broken his rib, it must have punctured the lung when Aang flipped him over! That's why they were so far apart..

She used her water to slowly, but surely, she healed the small puncture mark. She sighed with relief and opened her eyes. Zuko was asleep, his chest rising and falling rapidly. That told her what she needed to have heard: It had worked.

She turned to Sokka, who Toph was squeezing tightly from worry.

"It's alright, just a punctured lung." Katara dismissed it. "Healed in seconds."

Toph sniffled. "You sure?"

"I'll do a double check if you want." Katara said soothingly. She herself wanted to check a second time.

She looked through the whole body, and when she found nothing more, let herself relax. She turned back to Toph, who was now making Sokka's arm purple from lack of air. Sokka mouthed "help!" under his breath.

"He's fine. Nothing else." Katara said proudly.

Toph let go of Sokka's arm, which quickly regained color. Toph smiled happily. "I knew he was too tough to die." For a second, Katara thought Toph said Toph instead of tough.

"Toph, can you help me move him to his room?" Sokka asked.

Toph nodded, kicked the ground, and carried the rock bed after Sokka to Zuko's room. It was neat and clean, which shocked Sokka. But not Toph, since she had felt his room so many times before.

Toph shifted him off of the rock to his bed, which made his frown in his sleep. she pushed the rock back into the floor, and turned to where Sokka stood.

Sokka sighed. "I should probably go tell Aang that Zuko's alright." He turned to Toph. "See you at lunch?"

"You know me so well." A mischievous smile popped onto her face.

She watched Zuko sleeping, but then remembered that if she stayed too long, it would make Zuko feel bad. So, to her regret, she slipped out of the room. She heard a muffled shout, and sprinted towards it. She felt with her feet where Aang and Sokka were, and realized they were fighting.

She opened Aang's door, where Aang had knocked Sokka into a wall and was towering over him.

"AANG!" Toph shouted, knocking him over with a rock.

He spun around just in time to see Toph before falling onto the floor. He sat up, angry. "WHAT?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Katara shouted, stepping into the room.

Aang's eyes lost their brightness and life, and turned dull with fear. "H-he, but he-"

"What were you going to do to Sokka?" Katara said loudly, tears streaming across her face. She looked over at Sokka, who was rubbing his head with a pained expression. "Aang, you need to calm down."

Aang let his head droop, looking at the floor. He looked to Toph, but she was only frowning. He looked to Sokka, who tossed him a sour look. He looked back at Katara, who gave him a glare he had seen her give Zuko so many times when he hurt Aang. At the time, he thought the glare was funny, but now, with the coldness in her eyes and the furry on her face, he realized there was _nothing _funny about it.

Katara went and helped up Sokka, who started falling over due to his head injury (Toph said, "You mean he didn't have a head injury already?" She grinned). Toph stayed for a moment to talk with Aang, who was in a particularly sour mood today.

"Alright, twinkletoes.. what's wrong?" Toph asked, making herself a rock seat.

Aang hesitated, but eventually spoke. "It's just, Katara usually liked hanging out with me.. and now-"

"She isn't just 'hanging out' with Zuko. She saved his life a couple of minutes ago." Toph said quickly, trying to make sure Aang wasn't upset for wrong reasons.

Aang glared. "I know. Sokka told me that flipping him did something to his lung." Aang said darkly.

Toph didn't like the edge to his voice. It sounded as though he was _glad _to have punctured Zuko's lung. "I know you didn't, but sweetness is just angry about it, and she blames anyone she can." Toph stood. "You can't blame Zuko for Katara blaming you. That would make someone else blame someone else."

"Toph, did you eat my seal jerky?" Sokka stormed in angrily, holding an empty bag of seal jerky.

Toph gestured to him. "See what I mean?"

Aang laughed along with Toph, but Sokka kept frowning over them, demanding his seal jerky.

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Zuko opened his eyes, and immediately felt the nausea kick in. He closed his eyes, wanting to fall back asleep, but his body wouldn't let him sleep. He opened them again, and saw, to his surprise, the mournful blue eyes of Katara, the waterbender.

"Are you okay?" He croaked quietly.

She smiled. "I think I was supposed to say that.." She pulled water out of a bowl. "I can heal you some more if you tell me what hurts." She offered. "Or I can make some snow if your thirsty."

Zuko stared at her. "Er, my leg hurts a little bit.." He pointed to the leg that was surprisingly already cast and elevated. She nodded and let her water onto his leg, making it hurt at first, then relaxing the hurting joints and bone. He sighed. "Thanks.."

"Don't mention it." She gave hit a little smile. "So, does you arm hurt, or your neck or-"

He laughed to himself. She glared at him. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just.. a few hours ago, you hated my guts.. and now-"

"You risked your life to save Toph," She said plainly. "And anyone who cares enough to save her deserves.. forgiveness." His heart fluttered.

Was this what she was waiting for him about? To tell him that she finally, after all the time, had forgiven him for what happened in Ba Sing Se? If that was the case, then, he was glad to have jumped off the cliff. Well, maybe not so happy, but still..

"So, do you, forgive me?" Zuko asked quietly, trying to move his head, but she stopped him in the process.

She smiled. "Yes, and.. there's something I wanted to tell you.." She looked at the ground nervously, and looked back at Zuko. "I kind of.. like you.."

"I like you too, and I'm glad you've accepted me!" Zuko said, smiling.

"No, I mean, I like you.. more than that. I.. like-like you.." She said, looking up at him.

Zuko was speechless.

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**Okay, I'll get more done later, keep reading, and please remember to review and tell me your favorite pairing!THANKS! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Trying my best to finish everything asap! So remember to tell me your favorite pairing and what you think of my story! Remember, I take Zai, Zutara and Toko, so vote now on a review or in a PM! **

**Okay, trying to write this in the best form possible, so tell me your opinions!**

**Songfic for this chapter is Give Your Heart A Break by Demi Lovato :)**

**THANKS FOR READING! :3  
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"Er," Zuko stuttered, trying to find words. He couldn't just leave her there, but she really did put his on the spot. Instead, he compromised by pretending to have a terrible migraine. "OOW! Sorry, Katara, what'd you just say? I couldn' hear you." He rubbed his forehead with his right arm.

He couldn't run the risk of making her hate him again. That would make her angrier than ever at him, and right now, he preferred having her on his good side.

She bit her lip. "Oh, nothing. I asked you if, er, you wanted snow now?"

Zuko felt happier now, since he had convinced her to let him off the hook. But what would he do with the knowledge that she liked him? Did he like her too, or was that just the pain talking? "Yea, thanks. I'm really thirsty."

She smiled. She bended the water in the air to create snow, then lowered it slowly to his lips. The cold ice was refreshing on his warm lips, and even better on his sore throat. He felt his lips curl at the refreshment of the ice. He made a grunt-like noise that told her he was done, and she turned it back into water.

"Thanks." He said, wiping his lips with his right sleeve.

"Don't mention it." She said quietly, walking towards the door. She stopped, hesitated, but then walked out. She left Zuko in silence, until another voice came at the door.

"Hey, hotman.." Aang's little voice greeted him sadly.

Zuko attempted to sit up, but winced and retreated back down. "Aang," his voice was strained. "what's wrong?"

Aang stared at the floor for a good half of a minute, until he looked up at Zuko. "I'm sorry." He said shamefully. He walked over to the table across from Zuko's bed and sat down on it. "It's my fault that your lung was punctured."

"What?" Zuko said, frowning. "I didn't even know that." His eyes drifted to Aang, who's face was in his hands. "Aang, it's okay, really. Katara healed me, you don't need to be sorry."

Aang didn't move. "But I've been getting angrier today. Earlier, when Katara yelled at me-"

"Wait, she _yelled _at _you_?" Zuko said, his eyebrows raised. "But, she only ever yells at me!"

"I know." Aang said glumly. "But I started beating up Sokka when he told me I punctured your lung! Then, a second ago, I shoved Toph." He bit his lip and looked at Zuko. "What if I'm becoming mean?"

Zuko struggled not to laugh at the idea of a mean Aang, seeing how he's so.. small and gentle. But, with lots of strength, he managed not to even smile. "Trust me, you aren't mean Aang. It's probably just Katara yelling at you. I mean, seriously, you're not used to that. It probably made you angry. Spirits' know it makes me angry." He gave a chuckle, then clutched his ribs with pain.

"Hey, take it easy!" Aang said softly, trying to stop Zuko from moving. "Yea, I get what you're saying.. I guess you're right." Aang stepped back, and turned towards the door. "Thanks for the advice, Zuko!"

Zuko smiled to himself. Had he just given the _avatar _life advice? Well, that one would be a good story to tell his grandchildren. That would be.. interesting.

Aang walked down the hall, and tried his best to smile and get happy. He was going to apologize to Sokka, then Katara, and even Toph if her face showed signs of anger. He walked into the center of the temple, where Sokka was sitting against the rim of the fountain and Katara was cooking. Toph was playing with her rocks, which caused a true smile to form on Aang's face.

"_What_?" Katara spat angrily, marching towards Aang.

It took all of his patience to keep him calm. "I'm sorry that I got angry. I was just upset you yelled at me, that's all." He turned to Sokka, who was rubbing his head, which had a large bump near the back where he had hit the wall. "I'm sorry I hurt you Sokka.." He turned to Toph, who was still clacking rocks together. "And Toph, I'm sorry you had to get involved in it all."

"It's alright Aang." Sokka said, shrugging his shoulder as though dismissing what had happened.

Katara let her frown disappear slowly. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry I pushed you to that."

Toph hopped up. "I didn't mind it. In fact, it was fun seeing your aggressive side." She raised her eyebrows. "I didn't even know you had an aggressive side!" A sly grin popped onto her face.

"Thanks guys." Aang sighed to himself. Now that they had accepted him, Katara's glare had faded.

Toph stood up. "I'll go check on Zuko." She said, marching down the temple towards Zuko's room. She checked his bed and discovered he was awake, thinking about something. She wondered, _what was he thinking about? I wonder if it's about the fall, or me, or Azula.. What if he doesn't know she died? Maybe he does.. I hope not, it may upset him. No, wait, why would that upset him?_

She opened his door. "It's me. Don't turn your head. Sweetness says you might have whip-lash."

He smirked. "It feels like whip-lash. Probably so.." His eyes drifted to Toph, who sat down slowly on his bed. Surprisingly, she was gentle with him.

"Do you feel alright?" She asked, still staring at the ground.

He shrugged, but then a searing fire erupted by his neck. He remembered she couldn't see, and, with a bit of pain, that he had broken his arm. "Yea."

She turned her head towards him.

"Zuko, do you like me?" She asked quietly, looking blindly at his face, probably thinking that she was staring into his eyes, but was looking at his spiky hair.

"Of course, you're really-"

She scoffed. "Not that way." She looked at the ground, embarrassed. "I mean, like-like me?"

_Why am I hearing like-like so much today? _Zuko wondered angrily. _What do I say to that?_ He decided to groan with pain like last time and scream, "OUCH!" He clasped his forehead with his right hand.

"Zuko?" Toph screamed, turning to face him. "What's wrong? Should I get Katara?"

"Nah, nah, it's fine." Zuko said weakly. He kept his voice quivering just in case. "What did you say? I couldn't hear.." He looked at her, and she was oblivious to the lie.

"Nothing.." She mumbled. "But, are you sure that I shouldn't get Katara?"

Zuko knew he better say yes this time, or it would really look fake. "No-OUCH! Oh, alright.." She nodded and sprinted through the temple. He sighed. What had this fall done to him?

Katara ran in next. "Zuko! Toph told me that you got a head ache!" She opened her water and poured some onto his head. He was surprised to feel some edge of pain relieved, which told him truly had had a headache, but he had been ignoring it.

"Thanks Katara." He said weakly, turning his head towards her a fraction. "That feels good.." He mumbled quietly, letting his eyes close peacefully. He yawned and licked his lips. Then, the water was taken away and Zuko felt the weight of his headache fall back to his forehead.

Katara smiled, staring at the floor. Zuko suddenly remembered that she had told him earlier that she liked him, but he didn't know what to say. Honestly, he just put her on the spot like that. Didn't she know he had Mai?

_Mai. _His lips curled at the thought of her again, thinking of how she had hated everything, but didn't hate him. He wished he could kiss her again, to feel her cool lips. But with a thud he realized he would probably never kiss her again, since he had dumped her how he had. She probably hated him.

_And I killed her best friend, _Zuko thought to himself, _I bet she'd kill me if she had the chance. Besides, she wouldn't bother to go out with the exile prince. But still, maybe if Aang killed Dad, then she __would- _

"Zuko? Are you okay?" Katara's cool watery voice called.

When he opened his eyes, he realized deep in his heart how beautiful Katara truly was. Her dark brown hair falling down to her shoulder blades; her ice blue eyes sparkling with something Zuko couldn't name. Perhaps empathy? He also so how pretty her face was. Even a couple of tiny, barely recognizable freckles on her tan face. Of course, she wasn't pale like Mai, but she was cute in the moonlight.

_What am I thinking? _Zuko shouted at himself. _Do I really like the waterbender? _

"Zuko?" Katara called again, a little more worried.

He smiled a little. "Huh?"

"Does your head still hurt?" She asked, leaning towards him. Her face was a foot from his; so smooth and pimple-free. He wished she would come closer, since he couldn't sit up. She leaned back and put her healing water back on his head gently. "There, is that better?"

He smiled a little more at the relief the water had given him. "Yea.."

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Katara left Zuko's room after she had healed his headache completely, but paused at the doorway as though there was something she had wanted to say. She turned to look at Zuko, who seemed peaceful and happy, and walked out. She saw Sokka, who seemed to be walking out of the bathroom.

"Sokka?" She called, running towards him. He turned his head towards her. "Do you think you could watch Zuko for me?" She asked.

He frowned. "Why-"

She huffed angrily. "Because if he gets another headache like he's been getting, I need to know about it. Or if anything else goes wrong. Plus we never found those guards of Azula's, and if the find out she's dead, then they'll come after Zuko."

Sokka nodded. "Alright, I will. See you then.." He said, walking down the hall to Zuko's room. He pressed his ear to the door, where he heard the heavy breathing of Zuko. He opened the door and saw Zuko, who was trying his best to sit up in bed.

"Hey, stop that!" Sokka said, closing the door behind him and walking to Zuko.

Zuko snorted. "I am not laying around in bed all day! I have to at least sit up.." Zuko continued trying to sit up, but with another few degrees upward and he knocked the air from his lungs and collapsed back onto the pillow, coughing and gasping for air.

Sokka rushed forward. "Didn't I just tell you not to do that?" He said, sitting on his knees.

Zuko coughed and coughed again, then winced. Sokka quickly remembered that Zuko had broken a few ribs, and reluctantly helped him to sit up. Zuko breathed heavily, but slowly stopped coughing. "T-thanks.." He breathed slowly.

"No problem. But you should know that Katara would probably have a cow-horse if she knew you had sat up without waiting for her help.." Sokka said, smiling to himself.

Zuko laughed, but moaned and put his arm across his ribs again. "Stop that.. it hurts!" He gasped, leaning his head back to breath.

Sokka bit his lip, cursing his great sense of humor, and sat down.

After a minute, Zuko caught his breath again. "So why are you babysitting me?"

"Katara wants me to tell her if you get another bad headache.." Sokka replied plainly. "'Says they're getting worse." He shrugged, and started to yawn.

Zuko smiled a bit. "Tired?"

"You know it." Sokka smiled too, finishing up his yawn.

"You should go to bed then. You don't have to watch me." Zuko said, turning his head a fraction to see Sokka, who shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine. Besides, Katara'd kill me if she found out." Sokka said again.

Zuko laughed again, and moaned once more. "Seriously, that hurts!" He closed his eyes with pain, then turned to face Sokka. "Next time you make me laugh I'm gonna light that ponytail of your's on fire."

Sokka frowned. "Hey, you had a ponytail a couple months ago! And it was worse than mine."

Zuko raised his eyebrows. "But you have to remember," He pointed to his head with his right hand. "I cut my hair. Besides, mine was pretty awesome." He put down his arm. "And you still haven't cut your ponytail."

"It's a warrior's wolf tail!" Sokka argued, pointing to it.

Zuko shook his head. "Whatever." Zuko cast his eyes onto Sokka. "But you probably should cut that hair." Sokka shrugged, but then shook his head.

"It's the southern water tribe warrior thing," Sokka told him. "It would be upsetting to my dad if I cut it." Zuko rolled his eyes, and Sokka remembered that Zuko's father wasn't ever truly a father to him, and quit talking.

Zuko turned a bit more to face Sokka. "Didn't you get burned?"

Sokka showed him his forearm, which had healed almost completely thanks to Katara. Zuko squinted, then realized he was looking at what was left of it.

"Whoa." Zuko said, his eye widening. "I wish Katara'd been there when I was burned." He said, smiling a little at his attempt at a joke. "Then maybe.." His eyes drifted off to the window.

Sokka sighed. "Yeah.. anyways, are you getting hungry? Katara was cooking lunch before she came to heal your headache." He said, smiling at the thought of some soup with maybe some meat.

Zuko's stomach growled, which told them both that he could do with some food.

"I'll go get it-" Sokka began.

"No!" Zuko shouted, sitting forward a little as Sokka got up. "Can't I go get it? I don't need any help-"

"Yes you do." Sokka said firmly. "You just fell about forty feet in the air! There's no way you're getting up yet." Sokka got up from his seat and turned to Zuko.

Sokka bit his lip. "For us, just please don't do anything crazy like you did when I came in." Sokka turned and let yet another smile creep onto his face. "Katara would definitely drop you off the cliff again."

A laugh, and then a moan, and then Sokka ducked from what he had expected to be a fire blast, but instead was Zuko's shoe. Sokka spun around, to see Zuko staring at his hand with his eyes wide.

"Why can't I firebend?" He shouted angrily, moving towards Sokka with a wince.

Sokka tried to say something, but before he could Zuko was trying to blast fire around the room. Zuko growled angrily, then attempted to stand on his left leg.

"ZUKO! SIT BACK DOWN!" Sokka shouted, forcing Zuko to lay back down, coughing and hacking. "I TOLD YOU, DON'T GET UP!" Sokka didn't know what to do, since Zuko wouldn't stay down now.

Zuko's eyes rolled back in his head, and, at least, to Sokka's knowledge, passed out again. Sokka sprinted down the hall to Katara, who cursed under her breath and ran to Zuko's room.

She woke him up and gave him a cold glare, which Zuko had long hoped to be rid of. "Zuko, you need to stop! If you keep getting up, you're never going to heal!"

Zuko glared back. "WHY CAN'T I FIREBEND?"

She bit her tongue, wondering that for herself, then remembered her old healing teacher's words: "Sometimes, when hurt badly enough, a bender can lose their powers for a few days, weeks, and sometimes, years."

"When you got hurt so badly, it took away your bending. It'll be back, but in a few days, or weeks, or.." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "years.."

"YEARS?" He boomed. "But-but, that's.. years!" His eyes filled with a pain Katara had ever seen before in him. She had never known Zuko to, well, feel pain!

Toph had walked in. "Don't worry." She said, her lips curling. "I can feel you, remember? And I think your bending will probably be back in a few days."

"And in the meantime," Katara said loudly. "You need to calm down." After a few minutes of silence, Zuko's stomach growled again. Katara smiled a little. "Want some soup? It's got meat.."

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**Okay, still not done, but I couldn't type anymore today. My fingers are stinging pretty bad. **

**Remember to tell me your favorite pairing so I can write this as well as possible for you guys, along with my friend (She-who-shall-not-be-named ;3).**

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! I'm trying my best to write quickly, but please remember I'm only human, so I might not go as fast as you want. Still super sorry it's taking forever.**

**Thanks for the reviews and subscriptions, it helps me to keep writing when I'm trying to come up with stuff. Lol, you probably think I'm nerdy for sitting her forever, but my frien****d and I took a typing class, so we type like 300 keys per minute. Which is pretty hard, but it is fun.**

**Don't really know a song to match this chapter, so I guess you can just make up your own little hum or something.. Lol, that's sad, please don't hum.**

**So, Thanks for reading, and please keep on reading! :)**

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After a good few days of straight sleep, Zuko woke up, ready and recharged to try to firebend. He tried every morning since the accident, but still, when he made fire it was only little puffs of flames or even smoke. It drove Zuko mad, knowing the only thing he had was gone for now, but Toph's words soothed him.

He held up his right arm and positioned it at the ground. He focused all his strength, and even a little bit of raw anger, into firebending, and forced a small flame into the air. He smiled at the sight of it. Even at it's weak state, with only an inch in width, Zuko was filled was happiness at the sight of it. He sighed, and laid back down.

Zuko's neck had gotten much better, and he was slowly gaining the ability to sit up and lay down. Of course, he wasn't able to stand yet, but he had asked Toph whether or not she could use her powers to move him to the center of the temple. Toph was happy to do so, but Katara found out while Toph was trying to load Zuko onto the sheet of rock and started yelling at the top of her lungs.

His leg wouldn't cooperate with him, but it didn't hurt unless he tried to move. His arm was much more demanding, seeing how in dangled in a sling that moved with just a slight breeze. He had also used his arm by accident, not remembering that it was injured until after he was seething with pain.

His ribs were the worst, of course. Since breathing caused them to ache. Not to mention laughing, which had happened more than he would have preferred. Sokka wasn't trying to make him laugh of course, but he did in the end, and Zuko ended up chucking his shoes, blankets, socks, and even his sling one time (Which he realized in mid-throw was one of the worst ideas he had ever had).

A knock came at the door, and Zuko attempted to turn his neck 45 degrees to face the door. "Come in."

Sokka came in, with a large bowl of soup. Zuko had once before sat up too soon a couple says ago, which resulted in a nauseating pain that actually made him throw up what little food sat in his stomach.

So instead, Zuko allowed Sokka to set the food down in the windowsill and lowered himself to his knees to help Zuko sit up. Sokka raised him gently, and stood as he lifted. Sokka had found during taking care of Zuko, that he was much heavier than he looked. He looked to be 140 lbs or something, but felt more like 220 lbs. He decided it must have been muscle, since Zuko was almost always working out.

Zuko tried to help Sokka by pushing his good leg against the rim of his bed to push himself upward, then Sokka turned him to lean against the wall, which Katara had discovered to be much better than just having him sit up which she also found to hurt his ribs.

Sokka sat beside him, holding up the bowl. "It's potato soup. D'you like potato?"

"Yea, I guess.. I can't remember eating it before." He said, taking it with his right arm. He held it to his lips and poured the soup into his mouth. With a jolt he remembered that this was one of the soups his mother used to make him and Azula. Of course, Azula had tossed the soup out and ate steak with their dad. But he remembered the soft potatoes, and suddenly, he remembered how his mother had hand fed him the potatoes. He handed the almost empty bowl back to Sokka, who looked down.

"You left the potatoes." Sokka said, frowning at the leftover potatoes then looked at Zuko. "Didn't you want them?"

Zuko frowned back. "I didn't have a spoon, and I can't exactly hold it in one hand and eat with the other, can I?" He said a bit more bitterly than he was trying for.

Sokka rolled his eyes and picked up the potato piece himself. "Good little Zuko! Open the tunnel, here comes the air-glider! Whoosh-OOW!" He rubbed his head where Zuko's punch had landed. "Alright, alright, here's your potato." He said, popping the chunk into Zuko's mouth roughly and standing up.

Zuko's lips curled a little. "Sorry. I guess I don't know my own strength."

Sokka shot him a sour glance. "Fine. Katara an' Aang are going to look for Azula's guards, I'm supposed to stay with you." He sat down on another chair in the room. "She also told me not to make you laugh, or else.."

"Or else?" Zuko raised his eyebrows. "Never mind, I don't want to even know."

Sokka shook his head. "You really don't."

Zuko sat still for a moment. "What about Toph?" He asked eventually.

"She's probably earthbending or something.." Sokka said, examining his nails nonchalantly. He sighed. "So.."

Zuko sighed too.

"We could.. er," Sokka bit his lip. "We could play a game."

Zuko scoffed. "Sure, what sort of game?" He rolled his eyes, but Sokka wasn't paying attention.

"Er.." Sokka's first offer was hide-and-seek, but seeing how Zuko wasn't able to get up, he ruled that out. He went on to his second idea, tag, but came to the same problem. All of his games included moving, and he wasn't supposed to let Zuko move around.

Zuko sighed. "Couldn't think of anything?"

"You know me so well." Sokka said, throwing his arms in the air. "What do you want to do?"

The teenager thought for a moment, trying to decided on something he could do. _I'd like to talk with Toph. But, I guess I really can't- _

"Hey guys." Toph said, walking into the room.

_Wow. Now that's what I call good timing. _Zuko thought. "Hey Toph..."

"Heard you guy were bored, so I thought I'd spice up your morning." Toph turned to Sokka. "You can go do something else if you want."

Sokka frowned, then smiled. "Alright. I'll be sleeping if you need me." He hopped up and left happily, which sort of made Zuko a bit rejected.

Toph sat down next to Zuko. She smiled at him, staring blindly at him. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Sure." Zuko said. He had imagined this to be much more amusing.

"You're bored, aren't you?" She asked, looking away towards the window. She sounded like she was, struggling with something. It didn't make sense to Zuko. Was she going to try telling him again? He got ready to have a headache just in case.

He looked up at the window. "Sort of." He turned back to her. "So what have you been doing?" He asked, trying to find a way around the possible conversation that happened a while ago.

She grinned. "I'm glad you asked." She jumped up, and started moving her hands and feet around. She did a few cool movements, and Zuko watched, impressed.

She kicked the ground, and a huge block of cement came up. She whacked it with her hand quickly, knocking off some brick. She kicked against the brick again, knocking off even more. She repeated this process about ten times, running around it and removing more and more cement.

Zuko's eyes widened. "That looks like a-"

"HEY!" Katara walked in. "Where is Sokka?"

Toph brushed it off. "Sleeping."

"What are you doing?"

Toph rolled her blind eyes. "I believe it's called earthbending."

"Not that, what are you _making_?" Katara shouted over Toph's swift punches.

Zuko frowned thoughtfully. "Looks like that thing Teo has.. a chair thing.. what's it called?"

Toph grinned, stomped her feet, and the rest of the rock feel off. It was a perfectly made wheelchair. "I didn't add gliders, seeing how rock can't exactly fly. But anyways, I remembered the model Teo had, and I thought I could try it. Katara, wanna see if it works?" Toph turned to Katara. "Great. Just sit down on the seat."

"Toph, I didn't-"

"Just try it." Toph said, elbowing her. Katara sighed and sat in the chair that was too large for her.

Katara looked at Zuko and blushed, obviously embarrassed. Toph grinned and pushed the chair forwards, and then backwards. Forwards, then backwards.

Katara smiled a little bit, looking around at the wheel chair. "Okay, I guess it.. might.. work." She got out. "But if Zuko is going to use it, we'll need everyone's help getting him in it."

Zuko moaned. "Oh come on Katara, I can get into a chair by myself!"

"No you can't." She said stepping towards him. "I can't let anything happen to you! I would be so sad," Her eyes got huge and she turned bright red. "I mean.. we'd all be so sad!" She stepped backwards bit her lip nervously.

Zuko was amused. This was funnier than it should have been though. He smiled to himself, but then looked over at Toph. Which did he like better? Katara, or Toph? Toph was all for fun and wanted to help Zuko, but Katara was careful with him and didn't want anything to happen to him.

He skimmed over their looks. He looked at Katara, whose hair was falling in her face a little as she stared at the ground nervously. Her face was caressed with beauty, framed with cuteness. But then again, she was very strict, and might be more than Zuko could handle.

He skimmed over Toph now, whose eyes shimmered. She was holding her hands together nervously too. Her face was so smooth, like Katara's, but hers also had some baby fat which Katara's didn't. Her hair was like his, except longer without the bun. If only she would take it down.. He looked at her short body. Of course, she wouldn't always be short. She was still only 13, and he was 16. Katara was 14, which wasn't much difference.

But then again, Toph was sometimes careless. Would she be careless with him too, or would she be what he needed? They were so different, it's not a compromise. If he chose Toph, he might not get enough care. If he chose Katara, he may get too much care that would drive him insane.

"Morning." Sokka yawned, walking in. "I thought I heard Katara. You know sis, next time you want to shout, I think you should let it all out. There might be a few people in the fire nation who didn't hear you."

She growled at him. "Not now Sokka."

Aang came in too. "Hey guys. What's this thing?" He sat in the chair. "Doesn't Teo have one of these?" He turned to Zuko. "OH! I get it! Toph, did you make this? It's awesome." He wheeled himself around a little. "I want one."

"That's everyone." Zuko said. "Now can I please get in the stupid chair?" He whined.

Katara frowned, looked over everyone, then sighed. "Alright. Toph, can you pick Zuko up with some earthbending and float him towards the chair? Aang, when he's over the chair, you use your air to float him gracefully down to the chair. Sokka and I will be right here in case anything happens."

Toph kicked the ground, and Zuko was loaded onto a sheet of rock. She moved him over the chair, then nodded at Aang. He blew with his mouth a breeze that knocked Zuko off the rock and landed him with a "THUD" on the chair.

"OOW!" Zuko rubbed his backside tenderly. "What happened to graceful? I think I broke my-"

"Well then," Toph said abruptly. "Lets take a ride." She used earthbending to wheel the chair slowly out of the stuffy room and to the heart of the temple.

Zuko sighed happily. It had been at least a week since he felt the warmth of the sun on his cheeks. The fresh breeze blowing around his black hair. He looked at the fountain, and next to it laid the spot where he had knocked himself and his sister off the side of the cliff. He wondered if she still laid at the bottom of the cliff, dead?

Suddenly, he felt a pang of guilt. He wondered if he was cruel to have killed her? He decided that she would have killed him if she had the chance. In fact, if she could have, he bet that she might kill all of them.

He felt the chair stop at the fountain, which seemed to be the heart of the temple for the gang. Seeing how they were eating next to it, standing next it, talking next to it, fighting next to it, and occasionally, healing in it. He observed the place, smiling at everything that had stayed the same or changed. He sighed again, relaxing his muscles and closing his eyes.

"So, Zuko, whad'ya think?" Toph asked, sitting on the fountain, arms crossed smugly.

Zuko opened his eyes and showed excitement in them. "I love it! Thank you all, so much!" He turned a little to the others. They all smiled, happy that they had finally pleased Zuko.

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Toph sat up abruptly. It was a bad dream. And not just any bad dream. It was Zuko's bad dream. He was struggling in his bed; she could feel it. Something was wrong.

_Should I get Katara? _She wondered to herself. _Probably not. She'd just yack on about how he should be more careful and junk like that. No, I'll go. And if it gets bad, I'll get Sokka. He's always reasonable._

She hopped up and walked down the hallways towards the source of all the squirming. She turned quickly down the hall and slipped into his room. As she had thought, Zuko was breathing quickly and moving a lot. Of course, she wondered what he looked like, seeing how that could have helped.

She sat down, listening to him whispering in his sleep. He was rasping, "No.. no, I won't! I won't fight you.." Who was he talking to? What was he fighting?

Toph moved forward to wake him, when he started moving around. He gasped for air, and screamed out loud. She had never heard him actually scream, except the time when he was fighting Azula for the first time and she struck Iroh with lightning. That was the only time, and it was more a battle cry than anything.

She ran to Sokka's room immediately, too afraid to do anything herself. She found him snoring loudly, sleeping with arms outstretched. She leaned over and shoved him off his bed. "Sokka, wake up!"

He fell with a thud and a whine. Sokka sat up, holding his right arm gingerly. "WHAT TOPH?" He screamed, face scrunched up in the dark.

"It's Zuko." His eyes were no longer scrunched up, but instead flooded with worry. He got up, and they both ran off to Zuko's room. "What's wrong?"

Toph was running and breathing, it took a second to talk. "He's having a nightmare."

Sokka stopped. He turned to Toph, glaring. "A nightmare?" He threw his hands in the air. "Toph, everyone has nightmares!" He gritted his teeth and turned around. "I'm going back to-"

He was interrupted by a scream he knew belonged to the firebender. He spun around. "Was that-"

Another scream escaped Zuko's bedroom, which made Sokka and Toph start running again. They made their way to Zuko's room, finding the teenage firebender squirming on his bed in his sleep.

Sokka jumped to his side. "Zuko! Stop that!" He held him down, stopping all the movement. _The last thing I need is to get yelled at by Katara again. _"It's okay! Wake up!"

Zuko's amber eyes shot open in the moonlight. "KATARA!" He shouted, sitting upright in seconds. He winced, then leaned himself against the wall. "It's her! She's in trouble!"

Toph and Sokka looked at one another, but Toph more for sarcastic reasons than to look at his expression. Sokka turned back to Zuko.

"It's alright. Katara's sleeping, not-"

"She's been attacked!" Zuko shouted angrily. "I saw it!"

Sokka shook his head. "You were dreaming. It was a nightmare. Go to bed before you hurt yourself. Believe me, Katara'd kill me if she found you even worse when she wakes up than when she put you to bed."

"Except for the fact she be here tomorrow!" Zuko bellowed at Sokka. "Go check her room!" Sokka didn't budge, forcing Zuko to turn to Toph. "Toph," his voice was dry. "Please go check for Katara!"

Toph bit her lip, then shrugged. "Fine. Sokka, you wanna come, or stay?" She asked, looking off in the distance.

"I'll stay with Zuko." Sokka said.

Toph left the room, leaving Zuko and Sokka alone in the room. Zuko winced as he straightened his arm in the sling. He adjusted how he was sitting, and then turned to Sokka.

"She's not going to be there."

Sokka looked over at Zuko with a bit of a glare. "Zuko, I'm not sure if you noticed, but you were sleeping. That's right, the state in which one's mind flies. You can do whatever you want when you sleep, including seeing my sister get captured by something or attacked by something else. But no matter what you come up with, Katara isn't going to be missing." Sokka yawned. "She's going to come in here, tired and sleepy, telling you she's-"

"She isn't there." There was a note of urgency in Toph's voice.

Zuko gave Sokka a smirk. Sokka rolled his eyes. "Toph, can you check the temple if she's-"

"On it." Toph felt the ground with both her hands and feet. She stood there for a second then came back up. "Not here. I'm starting to think Zuko wasn't just dreaming."

Sokka turned to Zuko, with a much more vivid fear in his voice. "Zuko, where is she?" He got close to his face. "You knew she was missing, so where is my sister?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Zuko cried out, tears flowing down his right cheek. "I wish I knew, but I don't.." He stared at the ground, then looked up urgently. "We have to search for her- we have to find her!"

Toph grinned. "Found her." The other two looked at her inquiringly. "While you two were babbling, I found her. Along with some.. hmm, they feel like Guards."

Sokka's eyes lost their life. "They're going to kill Katara for killing Azula."

"But I killed Azula!" Zuko protested. "Not her!"

Sokka looked down hopelessly. "They don't know that." He looked up again, with a little bit of life in his eyes. "Toph, can you track her down?"

Toph rolled her eyes. "Sokka, do you really think I know where she is and haven't tracked her down in the process?" She looked a little more. "They're at the bottom of the cliff. I think its a few meters off of where Azula fell." Her foot twitched. "That's weird.." She put down her hand. "That's really creepy."

"What?" Asked Sokka.

She frowned. "I dunno, I feel a bunch of unnatural weight sitting beside where Katara is laying.. I must be a rock or something." But Toph didn't look less worried. In fact, she was even more paranoid.

"Come on, let's go get Aang." Sokka said, walking to the door.

"WAIT!" Zuko shouted. "What about me?"

Sokka turned, flinching back at Zuko's angry tone. "Er, you stay here. Stand-"

Zuko's eyes got wider with anger.

"_Sit _guard." Sokka corrected with a nervous smile.

Zuko huffed angrily. "What am I going to keep out? Flies!" He shot a small flame into the air, dropping a dead, burned fly to the ground.

Sokka's jaw dropped. "You got your power back?"

"No." Zuko said sarcastically. "That was an illusion." He said waving his right hand in the air dramatically. "Yes I firebended!" He grinned. "And Sokka'll need a light to guide his path."

"I can guide him-"

"He can't see like you can Toph. I can lead him with my light." Zuko objected, trying to find a way onto the mission. "You'll need me. Plus, I'm not helpless. I can defend myself."

Sokka raised his eyebrows. "Zuko. Dude, you fell 40 feet. You are kinda helpless."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Fine. But, I have to come! I can't not know whether she's okay or not!" He balled his hand into a fist and gritted his teeth. "I have to know!"

"WHY?" Sokka shouted angrily. "Why can't we just leave you-"

"BECAUSE I LOVE-" Zuko caught himself. "HER HEALING ABILITIES!"

Sokka's eyes got as huge as dinner plates. "Er," he cleared his throat. "I didn't know you felt so strong about her.. healing abilities..." He turned to Toph.

"D'you think you can put him in his thing?"

She nodded. "Sure." She sounded a bit disappointed, but she used her powers to slowly place Zuko into the chair with wheels on the sides and one in the front. She used powers to push him forwards in his chair, going to Aang's room. Aang and Sokka bolted out and the gang of four set out to save Katara.

It actually came in handy that Zuko came along, since his fire led the way in the dark, and everyone was able to hold onto his chair while Toph earthbended them down. She used the rock in the wheelchair to earthbend, holding onto one of the three wheels.

They came to a slow stop, and they all got off, then Toph lowered Zuko down. Of course, he was blushing, obviously embarrassed. He made his fire a little bigger and showed the paths.

"This way." Toph led them, and partially dragged Zuko, to the left. They slowly approached the cave, and Toph held her finger to her lips to tell them to be silent. She felt around the room. "There's one guard next to Katara, and one across from her. Then there's that weird weight, but I guess we'll find out what that is soon enough."

Everyone nodded, except Zuko, who grunted.

"Zuko, you stay here to blast them if they try to retreat." Sokka said. "They won't get past you." He said, trying to keep it so that Zuko wouldn't object.

On the count of three, Aang, Sokka, and Toph bolted into the cave. Toph used earth to peg one of the guards to the ground, then shot an earth log out of the ground into him, shooting him out and into the other side of the cliff. He dropped with a thud, and landed unconscious.

Aang was blasting the other one with his newest fire blasts Zuko had taught him.

Sokka was knelt beside Katara, untying her quickly. He shook her carefully, making her wake back up. She struggled with the ropes, but with Sokka's help, she squirmed free of them. They had left a fresh burn on her arms and wrists, along with her knees and ankles. She rubbed them tenderly, then looked to Aang, who had tossed the other guards where Toph had. Toph kicked the ground and a roof and walls had covered them.

"That's that." Sokka said, wiping his hands together proudly.

Aang gasped, then turned to the others. His eyes were filled with fear. "Guys, that thing Toph was feeling.. I know what it is now.." The others walked to the spot, and gasped too. Toph frowned.

"I can't see it! What is it?" She cried angrily. "Tell me!"

Katara looked over at Toph. "It's Azula's body." Toph's anger changed to nervousness.

"Oh."

Sokka turned to Toph. "Is she.. dead?"

"Yea. I would have felt a pulse and recognized it as a person." Toph said slowly. "It's good we didn't let Zuko in then.." She stared off at the wall of the cave.

Katara turned to Aang. "We shouldn't just leave her body here, should we?"

"I dunno.." Aang said. "I mean, it is pretty creepy. And it's not like she'd bury us in a nice cemetery, right?"

Toph continued staring at the wall. "No she wouldn't, and besides, Zuko'd hate that."

"Zuko'd hate what?" Called Zuko from outside the cave.

The others stumbled. Katara managed. "He'd hate it if I didn't make soup with meat in it."

A groan sounded. "Honestly the soup has gotten a little bit.. ahem, overused." Zuko called back.

The others walked out happily, greeting Zuko, who was frowning at the thought the meat soup. Katara and Toph smiled, and they slowly made their way back up to the temple, where Katara prepared a salad, completed (To Zuko's dismay) with meat.

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**Sorry it's taking so long, I'm just trying to find the best ideas for the story. I'm trying to finish it though, even with finals coming up and everything, so it may take me a while.**

**Anyways, tell me what you think. **

**OH YEAH! I found out something funny that I thought would make you guys laugh: Toph was originally thought to be a guy! Named Sud! And it was supposed to be the opposite of Sokka. So be glad the writers had an ounce of imagination and made it Toph instead of Sud. **

**Thanks for reading, and please read the next one when it comes out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi hi! I decided to go straight to the ending in this one for you all, and made it the epilogue. If you want me to make another fanfiction with the ending details, PM me or include it in your review. **

**So please enjoy, and tell me what you thought of the ending.**

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**Epilogue**

Zuko woke up in his comfortable bed if the fire king palace. He stretched out his arms and sat up with a happy yawn. He turned and got out of his bed, standing on his now steady legs. It had been fifteen whole years since Aang had beat Ozai, who sits in jail to this day.

Zuko turned to go into his bathroom, brushing out his hair that had grown pretty long, and then blowing some of it out of his face. He thought about changing, but then remembered that today he didn't have anything to do, and left on his baggy pajamas.

He turned back to his bedroom, and leaned against the archway. He stared at the bed, where his wife, Katara, laid sleeping. She snored lightly and turned over. Her face had gotten even more beautiful with the age. They were married a year after Zuko was crowned fire king, and had five children: two daughters and three sons.

His first daughter, 11 years old, was named Qui-Lo. She had beautiful blue eyes like her mother, and jet black hair like her father. She was a very advanced firebender. She personally prefers her older brother's form of fun: pranking people.

The second daughter, 9 years old, was named Min-Drai. She had her own few details: She had long hair that was shaped like Katara's, but colored liked Zuko's. Her eyes were a bright green, a mix of blue and gold. She was thin like Zuko, but her face was shaped like Katara's. She is a very powerful firebender, matching Qui-Lo's firebending even at her very young age, so much that Zuko nicknamed her 'Dragon of My Eye'. But, unlike her ancestors, she doesn't like firebending. She prefers sneaking into Zuko's meetings and writing notes when he forgets to.

His first and second sons, twins, were as opposite as could be. One was fire, one was water, one was always angry, one was always hopeful. They were named Shoudi and Couni, and they were both 13.

Shoudi was a firebender, with his mother's looks, but a more easygoing temper, that of Aang's. He was not very powerful when it came to bending, but personally preferred pulling practical jokes with Couni, his youger-by-five-seconds brother. He is more of the lady's man than his brother, constantly flirting with his servants. Despite his troublesome attitude, Shoudi was actually very nice, never getting angry at anyone unless he is fighting them.

Coudi was a waterbender, with his father's looks, but a very angry personality. He currently holds a total of 115 grudges inside the palace. Of course, he and Shoudi aren't allowed outside the castle, seeing how they are both hunted by those who are still loyal to Ozai. He likes to flirt a lot like his brother. He also enjoys pulling pranks with Shoudi, but usually for vengeful reasons rather than a playful game that Shoudi means it for.

His last son, 8 years old, was named Su-Nye, and he had bright golden eyes like Zuko, and short brown hair like his mother. He, unlike everyone else, was not a bender. He wished many times to be a bender like his family, but at age 5 decided that instead, he would be a royal assistant to Zuko. He follows around Quinn-Yae, Zuko's current royal assistant.

"Zuko?" Katara sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Shouldn't you be at a meeting?" She smiled, walking to where he stood and looking into his bright golden eyes.

He smiled back. "Nah, today's totally clear." He kissed her, then drew her nearer, "Besides, I wanted to spend time alone with my-"

"DADDY!" Cried a voice. A screaming Min-Drai sprinted into the room, hiding behind Zuko in the doorway. He frowned and looked forward to see a soaking wet Coudi in his room, looking around angrily.

"Where's Min?" He fumed. "She dumped a bowl of water on me- WHILE I WAS SLEEPING!" He turned to Katara, who was smiling. "Did you see her?"

Katara shook her head pitifully. "Coudi, honey, you're a waterbender. That means that you can-"

"I know." Coudi said angrily. "I was saving it to dump on _her_." He said shaking off his head and draining a ball of water off of him. He turned around and started looking in the closet and under the bed.

Zuko turned and raised his eyebrow at Min-Drai, who was smiling innocently under her father's gaze. She looked up at him and giggled silently. Zuko rolled his eyes and smiled back, then watched Coudi search the room tirelessly while holding the ball of water in the air.

"Still searching, are we?" Shoudi walked in, eating what seemed to be a bowl of fire flake cereal. He took another bite. "Oh Coudi, when will you learn to pour out your practice water before you go to bed?"

Coudi glared and continued searching.

A breeze ruffled Shoudi's short, spiked hair. "Feels like Uncle Aang and Aunt Toph are here. You know, I'm beginning to think all of the opposites attract." He said, taking another bite of his cereal.

Katara giggled. "I guess they do.." She turned and kissed Zuko, only to hear a loud voice.

"HEY! OH GREAT FIRE LORD!" Aang's still playful adult voice came from the courtyard of the castle. Everyone ran to the courtyard, expect for Min-Drai, who was using her firebending to float above Coudi, so that he wouldn't find her.

Zuko smiled at the sight of Aang, who now fashioned a beard. He looked to his right and saw the still blind Toph, who for once, had wore her hair in a ponytail instead of her hair bun. She looked, if anything, normal. Her eyes had lost even more of their color, now looking to be a light blue-ish/green-ish.

"It's great to see you guys!" Katara exclaimed, hugging them both. "How are Kya, Bumi, and little Tenzin? How is Kya's waterbending?"

Aang smiled. "She's really good. Maybe she would like to show you her newest move?" He gestured behind them to a child looking to be about 9. He nudged her forward, and she smiled.

"Hi Auntie Katara!" She said happily. She moved her little hands around swiftly, and up came water from the small pond, forming what looked to be a heart in the air. "What do you think?"

Katara smiled pleasantly. "That's lovely Kya!"

Bumi, still only 7, sprinted into the room, jumping up and down and bouncing around. He found Coudi, and happily smiled, then sprinted off to smile at other people.

"Why does he like me so much?" Coudi asked bitterly, slumping over.

"Why doesn't he like me that much?" Shoudi asked, his expression falling.

Tenzin walked into the room, only 4, but extremely matured. He looked around, waved at everyone, then continued to see Min-Drai and begin speaking to her. Even at 4, he kept up complete sentences.

"Wow." Zuko's jaw dropped at the sight of Tenzin, who was much younger than his kids but much better behaved. He wondered if that was Toph, or Aang coming out in him? Probably Toph, since Aang was so spontaneous.

Toph smiled. "So where are your-" A loud thunder of footsteps sounded as the other two children ran into the courtyard, accompanied by the waterbender, airbender, and Bumi, who had no bending.

"Hi Aunt Toph and Uncle Aang!" Qui-Lo and Su-Nye stopped and bowed to respect the avatar, who was now in his late twenties.

They continued making small conversation, until another couple dropped in with their children: Sokka and Suki. They had one young son, who was not a bender, but he was a skilled swordsman, already training with Piandao at his young age of 11. His name was Shawlin.

"Hey Shawlin!" Called Qui-Lo, who had a small crush on Shawlin.

Shawlin had hair like his father's, but instead he let it fall down. He cut it a bit shorter, so that it didn't fall in his face. His eyes were green, which was a mix between Suki's eyes and Sokka's eyes. He wore a green and brown shirt, a red necklace with fire beads and rubies, and dark navy blue water tribe shorts: the shirt from Suki, the pants from Sokka, and the necklace from Piandao.

Shawlin grinned at her. "Hey Qui-Lo, how's the jerkbending going?"

Coudi laughed, but most of the firebenders glared over at Shawlin, including Zuko. _Will I ever lose that joke? Honestly! That is ridiculous!_

"It's fine! How's playing knight going for you?" Qui-Lo countered darkly. Along with her father's hair, Qui-Lo had also achieved her father's prideful attitude.

Everyone gasped, and turned to Shawlin for a reply. "It's going amazingly, thank you. Want a demonstration?" Everyone turned now to Qui-Lo.

"I thought you'd never ask." She squinted her eyes, and prepared for battle.

It was actually not that shocking that they would fight. In fact, they were known for it. It was the way that Qui-Lo gained pride, and the way that Shawlin showed off.

Shawlin pulled his sword from the case on his back, which he had learned from stories about his father that Suki had told him when he didn't sleep. It also happened to be the way Zuko used his dual blades.

They battled happily, abiding by the rules Zuko and Sokka had placed: no injuring, no cheating, no backstabbing, no sneaking, and no pushing off the edges of mountains (Shawlin had overdone it once, and shortly after his hair mysteriously lit fire).

And with the heat of Qui-Lo's fire, Zuko remembered a moment when he saved Toph from Azula, but even though it was Toph he saved, it was Katara who he fell in love with.

"Zuko, are you alright?" Katara asked carefully, looking up into his eyes. Her eyes were so watery, so smooth. He had once thought them to be hard and icy, very scary. But when he saw her now, Zuko felt even more drawn to her than before.

He leaned slowly into a kiss, and felt for that moment, with no white noise in the background, he had really made the right choice.

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**I hope everyone liked the ending, I sure did! My friend wasn't as happy, seeing how she liked it all the same. Tell me your opinion, and please tell me if you want details on what happened after finding Azula and before Zuko was fire lord. I'd love to write it, but can't right now.**

**Thanks for reading everyone, stay healthy and fanfiction!**

**Oh, and go easy on Katara: she can't date everyone on the show. ;)**


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